After the election, marijuana could be legal for recreational or medical use in 29 states

By Alex Halperin // October 29, 2016

Marijuana could be legal for medical or recreational use in 29 U.S. states after the November election.

The issue will be put to voters in nine states, with legalization backers enjoying well-funded campaigns and polls showing a high likelihood that they will prevail in the most populous states.

Currently, marijuana is allowed for medical use in 26 states. Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota could join their ranks. Montana voters are deciding whether to loosen its current regulations on medical marijuana.

In addition, California, Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine — all of which already allow medical use — could join Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Alaska as states that also permit recreational use. Those nine states account for nearly a quarter of the U.S. population.

This Colorado county embraced the marijuana industry. Now it might ban pot businesses.

BY Alex Halperin // November 4, 2016

Larry Carlisle was down on his luck, stricken with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and injuries from having been beaten up when he was a cab driver. So six months ago he left Oklahoma City and set off for a new life in Pueblo, Colo.

It was, he said, “an oasis.”

“In my ailments, I’ve turned to cannabis,” he elaborated.

His plan is to start a fish farm. But for now, the 58-year-old Carlisle camps out with friends who go by the names Cactus and Cowboy, eating what they can scrape together from food stamps, soup kitchens and dumpsters. They are part of a homeless population that has grown dramatically since the county embraced the pot industry.